Few Strategies to Help Slow-learning Students

Have you ever come across the word ‘slow learner’? In a class of forty to fifty students, not every student has the same potential of grasping and learning things. If you understand thing faster-in a single explanation, you are termed as quick learner whereas if it takes more than 5-6 clarification to make the concept clear in your mind or longer than an average student in a class; you are called a slow learner.

Few Strategies to Help Slow-learning Students

Do you feel annoyed if someone terms you, slow learner? I believe that every individual is good in one or other task. A student in the class can be good at learning whereas other can be an excellent reader. This way every single student possess a definite quality that makes him unique. So, being judgmental and using any demotivating term for the student is disgraceful. The five fingers of your hand are not same, just like that every student has different potential to understand and grasp things. It is the processing of information in the brain that takes time. So if a student takes time in understanding the concept, it doesn’t mean he is an amateur.

But yes it is important for parents and teachers to identify the learning capability of student and therefore adapt proper strategies to help them excel in their academics. Below are a few ways to identify that whether a student is taking a long time to understand things in comparison to the average learner or not.

If they fail to concentrate for more than 2-3 minutes.

Failing to recall the information delivered a few minutes earlier.

Unable to understand even the easiest concept.

Not being able to answer their teacher.

Learning any topic twice or thrice and even more, still not being able to store information in their brainbox.

These and similar characteristics reflect that students need extra attention in order to help them excel in the academic field. For this the effort of parents, as well as teacher, is important. Also, students with this problem need to cooperate with their mentors, only then their ability to slow learning don’t create a hurdle in their success. So, here are few strategies to help slow–learning student that if followed can be of great benefit to students as well as their parents.

Parents can help their child by discovering the methods that aid them in grasping the information easily. At the same time setting up perfect learning environment can also help such students explore maximum of their potential.

Figure out the best way in which your child can study; like books, audios, or videos. When discovered, avail them the required medium.

Set up quite study area- free from any kind of distractions.

Offer help to your child in completing their written work. Help doesn’t mean doing their academic work, rather helping them in searching information creatively, guiding them in writing their assignment, clearing their doubts, asking questions related to the topic, discovering techniques to write the assignment and lot more.

Remain patience and confidence while guiding your child.

Always motivate them and never let their self-esteem go down.

Don’t be too concerned about your child. But being connected to the teachers to investigate the performance of your child’s in school.

After parents, teachers are the second mentor for their children. So correct guidance, care and a little of extra focus are required to help such students excel in the desired field.

Give them enough time. Don’t pressurize them because they might fail to perform the task in the desired manner.

Keep them active by encouraging their engagement in extra-curricular activities.

Prepare a study plan for them.

Relate concepts to the prior concept or explain it in the form of a story, making it interesting to them.

Make all the necessary tools and equipment’s available to them.

Provide inspiring and real-life examples relevant to the topic.

Praise for their labours and hard-work.

Show your trust and confidence in them.

Even if they are not able to perform well in the class test, don’t embarrass them in front of the class by using harsh words.

Provide them equal opportunity to show their potential.

Make them revise topic time to time.

Boost their confidence by rewarding them.

The slow learning habit of students is because of slow processing of information in their brainbox. So, it is important to motivate such students rather than being tough and harsh on them. Sometimes a student is not a slow learner, rather he is shy in putting up his doubts and getting intermingled with other students. Therefore, such students need to be guided properly and helped so that they can open up in the class. For this class, activities must be organized from time to time like presentation, quizzes, educational games etc., so that they feel comfortable communicating with classmates and friends.

Conclusion:

Slow learning students are not same as quick learners or average students. So, they must be given proper time, attention and environment to understand the topic and grasp the details of it. But learning and understanding things slowly is different from that of being shy. Students who are shy needs opportunity rather than attention for opening up in the classroom and presenting their thoughts.